Outcast
by Derpano
Summary: <html><head></head>"How about we start the haircut here?" Two-Bit pointed the blade just below my chin. "Or here?" He moved it to my throat. "Or maybe right about, there?" Two-Bit and his posse laughed when he chose the side of my neck and nicked it.</html>
1. Chapter One

I felt blood trickling a bit out of my nose as I got punched once again, by the school tyrant: Matthew "Two-Bit" Zinkoff. I was starting to get sick of the kid.

"Maybe that'll teach you to mind your own business!" Two-Bit laughed smugly as he picked me up, also flipping his nine-inch switchblade and pointing it at my face, just below my chin.

"Maybe we could start the haircut down here? Or here?" Two-Bit then moved the blade down to my throat.

"Or maybe right about, there?" The dude and his asshole posse laughed when he chose the side of my neck and made a little nick across it. Blood came immediately, so did my rage. I kicked Two-Bit in the balls. He cursed loudly, of course, and jabbed my eye before he came down to the ground, holding his pants and groaning.

"Fuck!" One of his friends, who went by the name of, "Cry", turned to me and glared. "We just wanted to yank your chops a bit!" Man, I hate Cry's cocky, nasal voice. He always thinks he's cool, when he's not; all he does is stay behind Two-Bit and stick up for him. That, is not cool. Don't get me wrong, Cry is actually kinda handsome, but his prideful personality just gets in the way.

Another member of Two-Bit' s gang, Conner, grabbed me by the collar of my jacket and lifted me. Conner is your typical drama-king bullshitter. He's a jock at my high-school, and he's the one with the muscles in Two-Bit's posse. He wears glasses most of the time, except when he's in Two-Bit's gang and jumping people like me, but you'll be surprised when his voice hasn't even gotten low yet. And he's very immature, he calls for his mom when someone like his posse start hitting or teasing him. He's a fucking two-year-old at heart, the bratty kind.

"Let go of me," I cursed, kicking at thin air and struggling to get out of Conner's grasp.

I couldn't. He was too strong. So instead, I cursed at him between gasps, his fist was against my throat.

"You sure have a potty mouth, do ya?" The twelve-year-old sounding Conner flipped me and I landed flat on my stomach to the ground.

"Just... be nice..." I pant, letting my anger roll nicely out of my tongue. "and... leave... me alone..."

"Nup!" Conner kicked my belly, along with Cry and two more of the gang (there was five more people in Matthew's gang, but they seem absent).

"I said," I grabbed Cry's leg and flipped it. "leave me the fuck alone!"

"Uh, oh," Two-Bit was on his feet again, smiling his usual ugly smile. "looks like Ms. Anger-Management wants some alone time. Whaddya say, boys?" He turned to what was left of his posse. A guy named, Toby answered, "We should teach her some more lessons!"

Seriously? Toby is so stupid, you can tell by that dopey voice of his.

"Tuff idea," Two-Bit flipped his switchblade again and crouched next to me. "What lessons should I teach you?"

I only spat at him, Two-Bit patiently wiped the saliva off and looked at me dead in the eye. "Perfect." Before I could move, he punched me, in the mouth while holding his blade.

"What did you learn today?" Matthew picked me up and put me on my feet, hands were on his hips shortly after.

Two-Bit must hit pretty hard, 'cause I was feeling a little sick from the throbbing pain on my mouth. Nevertheless, I still smirked like a dumbass and hissed back, "I learned that your dick is so small, your girlfriend doesn't like sex."

He punched me again, this time in the stomach. I flopped to the ground, groaning in pain.

Cry and some other guy in the posse picked me up and held me, Two-Bit held my head in the right position and patiently asks again, "What did you learn today?"

I groaned out, "I learned that..." I thought of the right answer. "I learned that, your momma is so stupid, she died in a grocery store." I knew Matthew was highly offended about that, because his mother died not too long ago. Heartless for me to say Yo Momma jokes around him at this time, I know, but he's such an asshole. I couldn't help it.

Two-Bit slugged me four times in the chest, I could barely breathe now.

"What did you learn today?!" He yelled, angry at me for saying jokes about his mom.

I was about to say something when I heard a female voice. We all turned from me and saw a girl, probably a couple inches shorter than me, with her hands on her hips, facing Two-Bit and his posse. She also had a ball cap with a huge D on the front of it.

"What'd you want?" Two-Bit growled, his fists clenched tight.

"Don't you think you should give her a break?" The girl had a gentle voice, though her hazel eyes burned with defiance.

"Oh, yeah? Says who?" Cry joined in, his smirk looking like the chainsaw massacre.

"The president, of course," She jumped up, and slammed Cry on the ground, Conner was about to take a punch to her, but the girl dodged it with ease and kicked him while holding down Cry.

Tears formed in the crybaby's eyes, Conner quickly got up and ditched his group, screaming, "Mommy!" while he was at it.

Fucking baby.

Toby's eyes widened at the sight of a girl beating the strongest boy he's ever seen, he whispered something to his friend, then they scattered together, leaving Two-Bit and Cry behind.

"Fuck this," Two-Bit sighed and kicked the new girl in the stomach. Cry staggered up with the help of Two-Bit, tears were dripping from his cheeks.

"Come on, guys," The girl got up calmly, dusted her clothes, and held her stomach in a nonchalant-ish manner. "Give her a break. For two days, I see her come home with a broken rib. Let her go and pick on someone your own size."

"Well, Cry is the same height as you," Two-Bit pointed out cockily, pointing at the crying boy next to him. "maybe you guys can go one-on-one together."

"I'd love to see him try," She was about to clench her hands into fists, but she took a look at me and shook her head. "No. Leave her alone."

"Says you." Two-Bit grinned his usual tyrant grin, but he proceeded and nudged Cry and himself out of the mess, pointing a finger at me before he walked off.

"Until next time, Williams."

The girl sighed and shook her head. She probably feels the same way as I feel about Two-Bit and his gang. Conflicted.

She gave me a hand to help me up, I accepted it and staggered up. Marlene's gonna kill me when she sees me dizzier than a flying dog on a stick.

"Are you alright? They beat you up pretty badly, didn't they?" She said, bumping my shoulder with her little fist, it was a gentle jab. Nothing else.

"Not too bad," I shrug it off. "Just a black eye and a bruised lip."

"A bruised lung too," The new girl smiled and motioned me to follow her through the neighborhood. "they would have sent you to the hospital if I didn't come and help you."

"Who are you anyway?" I ask, stopping each other in our tracks.

The girl looked up from her hazel eyes, then grinned sheepishly. "The name's Clementine," She answered. "Clementine Dallas."

"Well, _Clementine," _I say with a grin. "my name is Ellie Williams. Call me Ellie."

"Cool name." Clementine remarked. "Also, just call me Clem if you get lazy with my real name."

I nodded. The name Clementine felt too long for me to say (sorry, I'm a lazy person).

"Want me to walk you home?" She requested, pointing out in the neighborhood I lived in. It wasn't a trailer park, it was instead a gang-banged neighborhood. You know what most houses look like in gang-banged neighborhoods, right? They look kind of... trailer-ish: trashy, a bunch of graffiti on abandoned walls, sometimes the houses are broken, broken windows kind of broken.

"Sure, I wouldn't want to get jumped by Two-Bit again," I start walking with Clem staying by my side, we were silent for a while. I'm not exactly one to talk to strangers, and Clem doesn't seem like it either.

"Do you know Matthew and his gang?" I ask.

"Definitely," Clem said tiredly. "Crae and I used to be best friends before he met Two-Bit. After meeting Two-Bit, he became the most arrogant person anyone would ever meet. After that, we just split."

"Who's Crae?"

"Cry. I just call him Crae. LeCrae is his real name."

"Oh."

We walked all the way back to my house with a random conversation about something I can't remember. It seems that Clem likes sports, like me. She lives with an older friend, with his son and girlfriend. She says her parents died when she was a toddler, so her uncle, whose name was Lee, took her in until he died of a shooting when she was nine years old. So, Lee's close friend named Kenny, took her in as his own daughter.

The funniest thing was, child services was never involved when she needed shelter.

She also lives in a trailer park not far from here, called: _Motel & Trailer Park. _And she's my age, fourteen. Except I'm almost fifteen. She's a freshman in high school like me, she's been fourteen for three months.

"I went to preschool way earlier than the average aged kid. So that's why I'm in high school when I should be an eighth grader." I nodded in understanding.

I liked Clem. She seems like a good gal, I mean, she saved me from Two-Bit, and she said that she would cover me when Marlene sees me like this. It's rare to have someone like that. I think Clem would be good enough to be my bodyguard.

We got to my house at 4:50- something, I didn't check my phone that clearly. I usually got home at about 4:00, or more if Two-Bit and his gang beat me longer than expected. It would have been nice to get home WITHOUT Two-Bit stalking me all the time.

"We're here," I pointed at the house that had a rusty yellow truck and a trashy-looking house across the street from us.

"That's where you live?" Clem grinned, her natural white teeth gleaming. "You're lucky. My trailer is smaller than a one-foot RV."

I had to laugh at that. Clem had almost the same sense of humor as Riley (oh, I forgot. Riley is my "sister", Marlene's daughter).

"Yeah, well, wait till you get inside. Marlene's always busy with work, so the house is always trashed by the time Riley and I get home." I chuckle, running towards the porch, also jumping on each stair step.

"Close the gate," I say when Clem followed suit with me. "Marlene will wreak havoc if you leave it wide open." Clem just smiled, and obeyed my command.

I opened the door, and there was Riley, laying sprawled out on the couch and playing _Dead Island _on the Xbox 360. Right when she saw me, she smiled and ran to tackle me.

"Riley-" I was cut off when Riley barreled me into a laundry basket full of clothes.

"Ellie Bear!" Riley squeezed me tight, the tackles were always her way of greeting me back home, she always likes to play it rough. Like a boy.

Clem just took it all in, trying hard not to laugh, but failing. Snickers and snorts were sent me and Riley's way.

"Riley, get. Off!" I whined, pushing the seventeen-year-old off of me.

"I thought you liked getting tackled," Riley remarked. "you did it to me too. REMEMBER?" Riley said "remember" incredulously, man I was more mature than she was. Hell, I barely play video games!

"I don't like getting tackled in a laundry basket full of clothes!" I pointed out, nodding to the basket.

"Calm down, Ellie. They're clean." Riley looked over to Clementine. "Who's she?"

Just to tell you, Riley isn't hostile towards people, unless they look like they're looking for trouble. Riley might say things like a jerk, but she never means it. I do the same, because of her...

"This is Clementine, Clem, this is Riley."

"Hey..." Clem waved her hand shyly, smiling nonchalantly.

I smile at Clem then turned to Riley. "Where's Marlene?" I heard the unmistakable cooled voice of Marlene coming from the kitchen.

"Right here, doing the dishes." Marlene was in her pajamas, scrubbing at a grease-stuck pan.

"Hey, Marl," I smile as I hoisted myself on the counter, legs swinging carefreely. "The house looks clean for once."

"Oh, shut up. You never do your chores.." Marlene abandoned the sink and started to search the fridge.

"Totally _fucking_ true," I swore the "F" word as loudly as I could, closing my eyes.

I can literally imagine Marlene rolling her eyes at my cussing habit. She never swore around me and Riley, only when she was frustrated, but Riley and I curse around her a lot, she lets us curse around her. Greatest mom Riley ever has, right?

"Speaking of, did you run into Two-Bit and his group of friends again?" Marlene stated, patting my cheeks softly before going back to the sink.

I nodded slowly. "They kept stalking me after school."

Marlene shook her head, she hissed at me to get off the counter. Another thing: Marlene is anal about things, she's kind of a perfectionist (Riley doesn't even know what that means...).

"The problem is that your school doesn't do anything about it." Marlene shook her head again. She hesitated, but she turned to me and raised her eyebrows expectantly. "Why don't you carry something like a pocket knife?" She turned to her daughter. "Why don't you ever go with Ellie after school?"

"I never see her," Riley shrugs, gulping down the burrito she just cooked.

Marlene stared at me for a minute, then scoffed, almost laughed. She suddenly noticed Clem standing there, just being a quiet individual.

"Who's she?"

"The name's Clementine. Don't hesitate to call me Clem." The younger girl shook Marlene's soap water hand, smiling politely.

"Hello, Clementine," Marlene leaned against the sink counter. "I'm Marlene."

"I know."

I quickly jumped in the conversation. "She saved me from Two-Bit."

"Well, not exactly _saved, _but yeah. I told them to leave her alone, they did."

"Why, thank you, Clem," Marlene turned back to the dishes. "Ellie needs a bodyguard once in a while."

"Shut up..." I turned away as I blushed, but it was true. With Conner, Two-Bit and everyone else in the posse, I'm no match for them. Riley is never there when I'm in trouble; probably once did she help me fight off Two-Bit. Other than that, I was weak compared to Two-Bit and the others.

It feels weird to have someone watch your back, but it's healthy actually.

"Nice meeting you all," Clem started walking out the kitchen, I was brave enough to call out, "Where are you going?"

Clem looked over her shoulder and just grinned. "Home," She said. "I don't really have anywhere else to go..."

I nodded with understanding. I was always outside, usually with nothing else to do, except read a couple of books or get something if I had any money. I usually hung out with Riley, and no one else. I wasn't very good at making friends, unless they wanted to get beat.

"See you later?" I asked somehow hopefully. Where did that voice of hope come from?

Clem's smile became bigger. "See you later." Then she walked out the door and was off. The house immediately became disruptive, with Riley screaming like a maniac as she played _Dead Island. _Let me tell you, that game made me shit my pants more than _Bioshock _has!

Marlene didn't cook anything for dinner that night, so Riley decided to drive to McDonald's and get something for all of us. I got sick of McDonald's after eating, like, five McChickens there, I was so hungry that day. I would have picked something decent like Carl's Jr., but Marlene didn't get her paycheck yet, and Riley didn't have enough to buy something like that. Carl's Jr. is pretty expensive...

You must be wondering why I'm not living with my biological mother. It's because she died when I was born, Marlene took me in after my mom died.

I still have that letter mom wrote to me, telling me to make her proud and all that. At least I hope I'm not being very stubborn at school.

Riley is three years older than me, in a couple of months, she'll turn eighteen. She works a part-time job at a gas station, while Marlene works full-time at a factory, don't know what kind.

Enough with my life, you'll find out more sooner or later.

I ate two McChickens, I was too sick of McDonald's to eat more than two. Riley loves McDonald's, I guess. She'll eat four McChickens and a large fry without getting sick and vomiting. I guess she gets that from her mother, Marlene eats a lot too.

By the way, we also have a strict curfew on school nights. 8:30 is the time Riley and I have to be in bed, we can do whatever we want in bed after that. I take showers everyday, right after dinner. Riley goes after me then Marlene goes in the morning.

* * *

><p>"Ellie?"<p>

"Hmm?"

"You cold?"

"... A little."

Riley shifted her position on our bed and put an arm around my body. She has good body heat, I always use it in the wintertime if our heater's jacked up. The best thing too, is that Riley always lets me use her. We live in a two bedroom house, so Riley and I share a bed.

"Riley?"

"Yeah?" Her usual tough sounding voice had cooled down to a much tireder tone. I shifted from my position and we laid down face-to-face.

"Do think that Clementine girl is cool?" I whispered, lightly slapping Riley on the cheeks to keep her awake.

"What?" She mumbled, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

"I said," I soon sat up too. My body felt really heavy. "do you think Clementine is cool?"

It took a few moments for Riley to realize who I meant, she let out an "oh" and laid back down.

"She seems pretty decent." She answered, pulling me down on the bed with her. "I know her, kinda."

"Bullshit," I laughed, but I soon shut up when Riley punched me, meaning she was serious.

"She's on my football team, playing as a wide receiver I suppose." She chuckled then. "That girl is faster than anyone on our team. She shifts quicker than a jackrabbit, and she can jump over other players. For a shorty, Clem is pretty good."

I raised my eyebrows slightly, I stared at the ceiling as Riley kept talking about the wide receiver Clementine.

Suddenly I accusingly asked, "Why did you ask who Clem was, then?"

"Because I'm stupid," Riley laughed softly. "I only see Clem in her uniform, barely her face."

"You're not stupid, Riley..." I sighed, rolling over to face the wall.

"Yeah, I am," Riley yawned, closing her eyes slowly and wrapping her arm around me. "The only classes I'm passing right now in school are P.E. and Science."

"Science is, like, the hardest class ever!" I exclaimed, I elbowed Riley on her breast. "You are so not stupid."

"Whatever," Riley yawned again after hearing Marlene's voice calling for us to get to bed. "math is harder."

"I'm passing math," I half brag. "I have a C in Science."

"Good for you." Riley's voice was drifting off, her grip on me loosened, she was snoring a few seconds later. I decided to just stare at the window.

I couldn't stop my thinking about Clementine. She fought off Two-Bit for me. Maybe it was in her heart to do so. Gotta admit, she is a pretty good fighter. Also coming out of Riley's mouth, she's fast.

Maybe she'll help me with Two-Bit tomorrow?

Tomorrow's Friday, the holiday for all exhausted students. Especially me, I want a break from assholes and cheerleaders.

The last thing I heard of was Riley's snoring before I closed my eyes and slept nice and hard.

* * *

><p><strong>Wassup, dudes and dudettes? DerpZaro here with another fanfiction! It's been rough, thinking about what to do with chapter five of Hi, Again. Chapter five will be out soon, jus' letting y'all know. Don't be angry with me...<strong>

**So, yeah. I'm pretty excited for this fanfic, I feel that I won't delete this this time. My mind is swarming with ideas right now for Chapter two of this fic. **

**Sorry if I made the characters OOC, I felt that Ellie would be the one beaten by bullies, and the one that reads a lot. While Riley, on the other hand, works at a gas station on minimum wage, likes to mess around and plays a lot of video games rather than reading. Marlene is Ellie's guardian, yes. I feel that she would be fit as Ellie's guardian. Joel will show up somewhere in this fic, don't worry!**

**Next chapter I will put in Clem's point of view, and maybe give you guys an outlook in her life.**

**List of characters and their ages:**

_**Ellie: 14 1/2, turns fifteen somewhere during the story.**_

**_Matthew "Two-Bit" Zinkoff: 15_**

**_LeCrae "Cry": 14 1/2 _**

**_Conner: 15_**

**_Toby: 15_**

**_Clementine: 14_**

**_Riley: 17 1/2, turns eighteen somewhere during the story_**

**_Marlene: 38_**

**Enjoy, review when you can and STAY AWESOME DUDES AND DUDETTES!**


	2. Chapter Two

I woke up to the sound of Kenny's calls for me to get up for school.

"Rise and shine, darling!" He called. "Get up!"

_I don't_ want _to get up... _I felt like yelling that out to Kenny. I know it's school, but school is... stupid.

I lay there in my bed for a second, thinking whether I should get up or sleep for five more minutes.

"Clem!" The voice of Duck came closet as he kneed my back on the bed, shaking me to the point of no return. "Dad said get up!" He kept shaking me, up until I elbowed his muscled chest.

Duck only grinned, and got off my bed, then he called out, "Race you to school!" Then he was off.

Duck is one of the most handsomest boys I know, but he's not hot like most of the boys at my high school, Kenny Jr. is almost more like movie-star handsome, like the kind of handsome a lot of girls would stop and watch go by. He basically has the same hair-color as Kenny, he looks more like his mom, Katjaa, and he grew out the freckles on his face. He somehow likes his hair in a buzzcut, while his dad likes it long with a hat, he's also proud of that little stubble he has. I guess that's what triggers the chick-magnet.

Duck never swears, unlike his dad, who swears to the balcony. He is a total gentleman, he always lets me out the house first before we start walking, racing even, to school. He only smokes a cigarette if something was bothering him, and he'll drink at least one Bud Light a month. Duck has grown tall too. He's about 5'10 now, the same height as Kenny, he's real muscular too. He's in the weightlifting club at school, and he's one of the most muscular guys in the club. He has light brown eyes that somehow manage to be reckless, enthusiastic and soft at the same time.

You know, some people at school think Duck and I are dating (the ones who don't know Duck is dating someone else). That would never happen between me and Duck, Duck's like an older brother to me, and I'm like a little sister to the guy.

I rubbed my eyes as I walked out of my bedroom to the kitchen, my room is basically at the end of the house, so all I have to do is take a couple of steps out of the hallway, then there's the kitchen.

Sarita was cooking something, it smelled of bacon with a spice, kind of. Duck already had a gray long sleeve tee-shirt with some dark jeans, eating cereal. Kenny was reading the Bible on the couch. Before you fret, yes. We go to church every Wednesday and Sunday. It's kind of confusing that Kenny swears a lot when the Bible says not to let anything unholy come out his mouth. Kenny always says that he needs to work on his cussing habit, but it seems like he doesn't even try...

"You better get dressed, Clem," Duck pointed out, I turned my head to see my brother's mouth full of Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal, his finger pointed at me.

"Thanks, Captain Obvious." I mutter, rubbing my eyes some more.

"Morning, Clementine," Sarita's accented voice came my way.

"Morning." I sat down across from Duck, I reached to get my share of the cereal and milk.

I'm almost as tall as Sarita, she's 5'4 in height, while I'm 5'3. Sarita is a big sweetheart, she's like a real mom to me, she probably most likely favorites me, she always takes me places or gives me slightly more of something than Duck. She even said she favorited me, but she also told me to keep it a secret. Sarita is Kenny's girlfriend, they're getting married soon, I think.

"Duck is right," Kenny grunted from the small living room. "You two are gonna be late before you're even finished with breakfast."

I rolled my eyes at that, but I obliged to Kenny's wish. "Fine." That was all I let out before I went in my room.

Duck and I don't share a room, instead, he sleeps on the hide-a-bed in the living room. I wish I could sleep out there with the T.V. and everything; at least it's better to just have a queen-sized bed with nothing but bookshelves and dressers. Still, I should be thankful for what I have for now, I don't have to share my room with anybody...

I slipped on a pair of slightly baggy camo jeans and a women's football jersey (almost forgot, I'm in the school's football team, the person that runs for touchdown), not to forget my hat. I can never forget my ball cap. My dad gave it to me before he died of a car accident with my mother when I was little, at least he gave it to Lee until I was old enough to wear it. The hat is my prized possession, I wear it everywhere. I have to take it off during class, though, and some new people get surprised at how I do my hair. I usually pull my hair back in little pigtails, Sarita always tries to get me to grow it out, but I despise hair that grows below my jawline (damn you, Lee).

Last, but not least, I squeeze into my white sneakers. They're not very good-looking anymore, at least it's not as bad as Duck's, whose red converse are battered and turned to garbage. We don't complain, Kenny doesn't have the kind of money to be buying us stuff like that. I have regular Nike's at my locker for practice, but I only wear them for football practice, I don't want them messed up.

I jump out of my bedroom and get my grey hoody on, Duck was almost already out the door with his red and black checkered sweater.

"Be safe!" Kenny called out before Duck slammed the door and leaped off the steps, I did gymnastics off the entrance gate. I'm really good at gym, like, the somersaults and rope climbing kind of gym. Kenny once joked about me having bendable bones before, I was probably twelve or almost fourteen when he said that.

Anyhow, Duck and I walked together through the trailer park, we checked out of the 'park before going down the streets through town. Duck kept babbling on about one of his friends, Nick or something. I know Nick. He worked at a gas station as the cashier at the little store next door to the gas station, while Luke was the manager. Nick is Duck's homie, as most people would call it. Seriously, those two find time to get a beer and flirt with a couple of girls after Duck gets off school for the day and Nick gets a break.

"Nicky's hair is so long now," Duck snickered, whistling at the same time. "If he goes to the barber shop, he's not comin' there for a haircut, he's going there for an oil change." Duck laughed loudly at that, I had to grin at that joke. Duck makes the best jokes, it cheers me up out of my bad days.

"Clem?" It's been quite a few minutes since we talked, I turned my head and nodded, giving him the sign that I'm listening.

"You remember Shawna?" Duck asked, smiling as he said that.

Shawna Hubermann. Of course I remember her.

Shawna is Duck's girlfriend, those two are very much lovebirds, trust me. I like Shawna. She has a good sense of humor like Duck, she's basically the same as Duck personality wise, except she's slightly smarter, and she's skinny.

"Yeah, what about her?" I say.

"Well," Duck's smile grew bigger. "I think I'm gonna marry her."

My eyebrows scrunched together. "Why would you want to do that?"

Duck shrugged. "I dunno. I love her so much, I would give my life to her."

"Yeah, she is a keeper." I remarked, I kicked at a nearby soup can.

Duck nodded, then he bumped me gently on the arm. "But I probably won't officially marry her until you're out of school. I need to help dad pay the bills anyway."

I nodded with understanding. "What's love like, anyways, Duck?" I ask, I never dated anybody before, besides Crae, but Crae and I never actually kissed on the lips, just a peck on the forehead here and there, holding hands too.

Duck started laughing. "You should know what love is like, you dated Cry before."

"Yeah, but we never actually got serious and kissed on the lips." I say.

Duck sighed and smiled, he was probably thinking about the all the times he spent with Shawna. "Love is..." He thought about it. "silly. Love is silly, but super nice."

"How can love be silly?" I asked.

"You'll see."

We were at the high school now, I ran towards the double-doors, thinking about what Duck said to me.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Clem!" I heard a familiar voice call to me. I look behind myself and saw Crae running towards me through the cafeteria, his lunch bag seemed to bounce lazily from left to right.<p>

I sighed and silently cussed the boy out. Ever since he joined Two-Bit's gang, Crae became a jerk. I didn't want anything to do with him after that.

Crae is a different guy at heart, though. He only swears constantly and is cocky around Two-Bit. That's one of those stupid, but silly things about LeCrae, he has that kind of personality where he tries to be cool at the wrong time.

But deep inside, he's different from Two-Bit. He's kind, and funny. Cute too. We used to date for a few months in seventh grade before he joined Matthew. He was a show off after that, I just broke up with him because 1) it was for our own good and 2) Two-Bit hates my guts, so I would rather stay away from the guy.

Crae is African-American like me, he's got a darker skin tone, he's only a few inches taller than me and his hair is shaved off, not bald though. His voice is kind of youthful, cocky sounding.

The boy caught up with me, and sat next to me at the table I usually sit at by myself. I don't really talk to people, nor do I have any friends.

"What's going on, Clem?" He asked.

"Same old, same old..." I mutter, only for Crae to hear.

"Cool," He commented as he chowed down his sandwich. "you wanna know somethin', Clem? I have an F in Phys Ed."

I looked up from my burger and looked at him. LeCrae Johnson is a sports freak, why would he be failing P.E.?

Unless he's just trying to get my attention.

"Liar," I mumble, going back to my food.

"No, really," Crae exclaimed, he raised his fist in the air and slammed it on the table. That was his habit when he was trying to make a point. "I'm failing Phys Ed, I dunno why, but I just am."

"You're a sports freak, Crae. Why would you be failing that class? You love running and doing push-ups!" I say.

"Yeah, well..." Crae looked away shyly, then back at me. I could tell there was a hint of admiration in his brown eyes.

That could only mean one thing: he still has a thing for me.

"Maybe it was, be-because..." Crae stuttered a bit more, before blubbering out, "Maybe it's because I can't stop thinking about you?"

_Oh, great... _I glare at him softly dead in the eye and replied as gently as I could: "I thought you weren't going to love me anymore."

"I know," Crae slapped his forehead. "I was stupid. Two-Bit was making me nervous, and he hated you, so I just, said it was over..." Crae put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed it slightly. "I hope I didn't hurt you, you know me, Clemmy. More than anyone in this school. Forgive me?"

"Of course I wouldn't stay mad at you for so long," I rubbed the back of my head. "The thing is, though, I don't want to date you again."

Crae looked hurt, but his eyes showed understanding. "Do you love someone else?"

"No! Not at all," I raised my hands and waved them in a surrendering manner. "It's just that, until you stay away from Two-Bit we can't date or talk like we used to. He hates me."

"Matt doesn't hate you..." Crae shut up as soon as I gave him a death glare.

"Yes. He does," I sighed and chewed my burger more slowly than usual. "You see the way he treats me. And that one girl, Ellie Williams is her name." I suddenly remember Ellie. Her brown hair and bright green eyes sparkling with mischief even though she was beat yesterday.

It was only yesterday when I walked her home. Only yesterday...

_Please don't tell me I like her already..._

"I'm sorry about that," Crae apologized, clearing his throat before biting into a chocolate bar; then he picked off a piece and handed it to me. "Want some?"

I grabbed the piece of chocolate from Crae and ate it. I love chocolate, the best one I've had so far were the ones Crae likes: _Whatchamacallit._

Those are the best kind of chocolate I've ever had.

After a little bit of silence, I gathered the courage to ask, "What fun does Two-Bit find in jumping people?"

"I dunno," Crae shrugged. "but he always tells me that he's doing it to protect himself, and other people."

"Fucking liar," I swore, I smirked when Crae gave me a scared look of amusement. I rarely swore, but when I did, it's usually in a quiet voice or when I'm angry. To be honest, I hate cussing, it's just annoying. Besides, what fun is swearing?

"Well, well, well," I felt a scaly, hard grip on my shoulder, I turned to see Crae's shoulder have the same thing. You can just tell it's Zinkoff.

Crae's face went from dark chocolate skinned to my skin color, he made a grimace of, "I'm fucked".

"Looks like the lovebirds have reunited again." I heard a couple of dopey laughter from the background, I turned and saw Two-Bit, an evil smirk plastered on his face.

"Any last words, Dallas?" He grabbed me by the collar of my hoody and inched my face with his; his breath smelled of cat vomit.

"I..." I struggled from his strong grip. "I don't think so."

"Yea, you do." Two-Bit slammed me back down to my seat, probably to avoid attention of the teachers.

Now the freshmen and the sophomores weren't focusing on topics like food or Miley Cyrus twerking at her concerts, they were looking at us.

"After school, meet me, Cry and Conner at the 'hood. You know, Williams's neighborhood?" Matt smirked again, and slouched his hands in his pockets.

"Don't count on it," I shot back. I hate fighting, but when it comes to Two-Bit, my confidence just shoots straight up.

"I will." Matthew motioned his friends, including Crae, to follow him. He gave me a smug smile before walking off.

Crae gave me an apologetic look, but I waved it away.

Ellie might need some help with Two-Bit after school, she wanted to see me again, right?

* * *

><p>I started to walk home with a heavy backpack, but something told me to go through the 'hood, Lincoln St.<p>

My head also told me to run.

I sprinted through the town, I didn't stop to get a Coke at 7Eleven like I usually did. Both Duck and me usually stop to get a soda or something there, but Duck had weightlifting practice today, so I was alone.

I ran and ran, until I heard smug laughing and curse words not far from where I was. I knew it was Two-Bit beating up the new girl again. It only took a few ten steps until I saw the scene unfold before me.

Ellie was actually jumping (while yelling) on Conner's back and kicking him as hard as she could... Conner must be in agony at how deep her nails must be into his skin...

"Hey!" I blurted out, tightening my hands into fists. I walked in quick strides to the fighting between a group and a girl.

Crae was the first to take a glance at me, his lips curled to a smart-aleck smirk, but his eyes showed gratefulness. I nodded slightly at him before facing Two-Bit.

"Hello, _Clementine." _Two-Bit smiled smugly. "So good for you to join us..." He must have noticed my concern for Ellie, because he looked back at the fight between her and Conner, then back at me. "Don't worry about them," He said. "they're gettin' along just fine."

"Tell Conner to step away from her." I demanded, letting my voice go on edge as Conner started choking the girl.

"I told you it's alright," Two-Bit did his fake gentle voice, he put on his fake smile. Two-Bit was always this fake.

I felt my teeth grind together as I stepped forward. "I said... Let. Her go." I tried to be as calm and patient as I could, Kenny always told me to keep my peace, no matter how angry I am.

"Says you." Two-Bit snickered and shoved me down to the ground. Now was my chance to lose control.

I slugged Two-Bit on his nose, blood came before he even put a hand over his nose. Stupid coward.

Ashley grabbed me by the collar of my hoody and threw me to the ground-hard too. Immediate pain pulsed through my spine when I landed in the dirt. I couldn't help but let out a yelp and arch my back in pain.

Then I felt two rough hands grab me by the arms and held me up for Two-Bit. The leader of his gang checked his nose, in which his three fingers reddened as if by magic, he looked at me again, then connected his fist with my cheek.

"Fucking faggot..." Two-Bit growled, wiping the still-rushing blood that dripped onto his white t-shirt.

I slowly got up, only to be kicked in the stomach by Toby, I fell to the ground with a harsh _ swish..._

"Like I told you, Clemmy," Two-Bit crouched down and leaned into my face until our noses were almost touching, his breath smelling of death. "You just need to learn to step off. Same with Williams here," He signaled Conner to stop beating Ellie to a pulp. "Williams needs to control her anger and just step off. Ain't that right, girl..." He walked over to Ellie and teasingly smacked the side of her head.

Ellie only muttered a swear word before resting her head on the dirty road.

Two-Bit stayed where he was, and continued: "Just remember, you can't beat us. You're too _stupid _to."

Yeah right. Like he passed every class. He's failing every class at school, and he thinks he's so badass. Totally immature.

"I hope we taught you two lovebirds a valuable lesson," Two-Bit stood up. "See you tomorrow." With that, he walked off, some of his crew got their own idea to spit on Ellie and I before catching up with Two-Bit. Crae flashed me an apologetic look, that I waved off.

I just sat there, thinking about what I just did. I shouldn't have fought. It was plain stupid. What's gotten into me?

"Are you okay?" I heard Ellie's low feminine voice just a few feet away from me. I forgot I was fighting for her.

Quickly, I came up with an appropriate response: "Yeah. Are you?"

Ellie nodded slightly and helped me up from the street. We were silent for a few seconds, not looking or even glancing at each other.

Finally, Ellie asked: "Why did you do that?"

That was when I lifted my eyes to hers, bizzared by her question. "What?" I say. I think my head got hit really hard, my brain was fuzzy and my skull pounded mercilessly.

"I said-" Ellie's voice came more as an impatient snap, her eyebrows were furrowed together. "Why did you fight with me against Two-Bit?"

I squinted my eyes, earning a rude glare from Ellie. I cocked my head to the side and said, "Maybe I didn't want you killed."

"Conner wasn't going to kill me," Ellie said coolly.

"He was choking you," I pointed out, literally waving my hand over the empty road.

Ellie just looked at me and laughed heartedly, slapping her knee while doing so.

"He didn't grab my neck to the point I couldn't breathe, he just took my neck and threw me. That's all Conner's ever good at, throwing things." Ellie chuckled a bit more before bumping my shoulder as she walked off. "If you don't want to get lost, let's go."

_I know my way home... _I complain in my mind before following Ellie downtown again.

* * *

><p>I just found out Ellie liked to throw bricks at old cars, she usually did those kind of things with Riley.<p>

"Won't you get in trouble for that...?" I pondered out loud to mostly Ellie, switching my gaze from the literally on-fire car to the brown haired girl.

"We're fine as long the fuzz don't see us," Ellie chuckled a bit before chucking another brick at a different car, and guess what happened? The flaming car blew up... The ground shook underneath us, without me noticing, Ellie grabbed my hand and ran us through the alley, I had no choice but to struggle following her with my hand captive.

Ellie stopped running when she found behind a library to hide. She turned to me with a surprised expression on her face, then laughed harder than I've ever seen anybody laugh.

I started to laugh along, but it wasn't as hard as Ellie's. Suddenly, I stopped laughing and said, "Why do you even throw bricks at cars?"

_"Old _cars, to be exact," Ellie corrected me with a smile. "and I don't really know. It helps me when I'm angry, and Riley does it all the time with me whenever we had the time... I don't know, it's just... peaceful, I guess." Ellie's smile faltered as she leaned her back against the cement wall of the back of the library.

I nodded to let her know I listened and sat down on the ground, picking at the broken up cement.

"So..." I heard Ellie say as I was lost in my own world, in which she broke me out of. I lifted my eyes from the ground and looked into Ellie's bright green eyes. I noticed Ellie's eyes were really pretty, they glistened in the sun when she was laughing or being reckless, like she was... I forgot how many minutes ago it was... Anyways, her eyes were prettier than my own amber eyes, way prettier.

"What do you want to do?" Ellie's voice snapped me back to reality; I quickly got up from the ground and thought about it for a bit.

"I don't really know what I want to do..." I answer carefully, shaking my head. Ellie nodded and sighed as she stared outside the alley. I could tell she was getting bored. So was I.

"I guess..." Ellie walked off from the wall and stood in front of me. "We could, like, go to my house or something?"

"I'd like that," I smiled, but with realization I quickly said, "but not today. Kenny's probably pissed at me right now for not checking in at home. Maybe tomorrow?"

Ellie looked a little disappointed, but nevertheless she nodded with understanding. "Same with Marlene," She replied then chuckled whole-heartedly again. "I'm going to have to explain everything to her."

"Looks like we have some things in common, Ellie." I giggled at that, while Ellie laughed a little harder.

"Yeah, we probably do..." Ellie sniffed and rubbed her nose as she said, "I guess I'll see you tomorrow or something?"

"Not tomorrow, because I have to work with Duck at the gas station, with his friends..." I half-grumbled before offering her to go to church with me on Sunday.

"I'm not much of a religious person," Ellie grunted. "but if it means I get to hang out with you, then I'll go."

I grinned as I shoulder bumped her before walking on.

"Bye, Clem!" Ellie called, I looked back to see the green-eyed beauty waving. I waved back with a mellow smile before I kept walking through town.

* * *

><p>"Why didn't you check in, Clem?" Duck punched me on the back to where I almost stumbled.<p>

"Ow! Duck, I'm not a boy!" I whined before I continued, in a irritable fashion. "And I forgot to check in, that's why."

"Well, you have a phone, so you coulda at least _called _Kenny before you went to hang with "Ellis" or whatever that girl's name is." Duck Sat next to me on the steps of our trailer.

"You're retarded, Duck..." I mumble. He wasn't even acting like one, I just wanted to pull his leg a little bit.

Duck just gave me a light shove on the stairs before Kenny called out, "Dinnertime!"

"Oh boy, am I starving!" Duck murmured before he stumbled inside.

_Him and his antics... _I mused before following Mr. Muscles inside.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay... writer's block is over... FINALLY!<strong>

**I hope you guys didn't get TOO impatient with my schedule, I just had really bad writer's block and I couldn't think of ANYTHING for the story!**

**At least Chapter Two has been released. Hope you enjoy.**

**Enjoy, review when you can, and STAY AWESOME DUDES AND DUDETTES! Love you guys.**

**CHARACTERS AND THEIR AGES**

**Duck- _15 1/2_**

**Kenny- _47_**

**Sarita- _42_**

**Nick- _31 1/2_**

**Shawna- _16_**

**Ashley- _15_**


	3. Chapter Three

"Ellie, hurry the hell up!" I heard Riley shout through the non-sound-proof walls of the house.

"I said _wait a fucking minute!" _I shout back. Geez, Riley is so irritable at times. Sorry if my french offended you guys...

All I remember from that morning was stumbling out of my room, Riley swearing as loudly as she could as she dragged me out of the house, and us walking off to town. I literally remember nothing else that came out of Riley's mouth as we walked together.

"So, what do you wanna do?" I ask suddenly after Riley and Mike had their little "greeting" (Mike and Riley are dating, they're really cute, but the way they act with each other sometimes is just sick...).

Riley licked her slightly chapped lips and grinned. "Nothing legal," She half-joked. "let's go."

I ran along behind the two lovebirds through the neighborhood to the streets. It was Saturday today, I didn't have so much homework, my science project wasn't due until, like, three weeks later... it was going to be awesome with Ry and Mike.

As the three of us strided through an old, abandoned auto shop, I was the first to notice a rumble unfolding right in front of me and Mike.

Two guys, possibly two _stupid _guys, were violently wrestling each other on the dusty ground, the taller and more muscular guy slamming the shorter stocky one on the hood of a rusty car. There was a small crowd, loudly cheering and cussing like maniacs as the fight went on.

"Let's go-" I started to walk away, but Riley grabbed me by the arm.

"Let's _stay," _Riley emphasized. "it's a pretty entertaining one."

Finally, the smaller guy scrambled out of the bigger one's grasp and left the scene with nothing but a pair of pants, bloody marks all over his body and a bottle of beer to keep him company.

I heard Mike scoff. "Cheap win." He mumbled as the muscled man got praised and worshipped for the fight, though some people just gave him death glares. I guess they were more into the shorty than the biggie. I usually never found fun in fighting, nor did I like watching it. Riley on the other hand, enjoys seeing someone getting knifed in the gut, she even laughs at a fight. Mike seems to be on the same page as me, he doesn't like fights. He makes fun of the people who fought, calling them "shitheaded retards" or something like that.

"Let's go to a movie," Riley said as we walked along downtown of Boston. "I heard that new movie,_ Fifty Shades of Grey_, will be comin' out soon."

"Which will be in like, Valentine's Day, shit-for-brains," I scoffed when Ry ripped out a cigarette and lit it.

"I know," Riley mumbled through the cancer stick in her mouth and smacked me hard at the back of my head. "I didn't mean we should watch it today."

"Y'know what we could watch though?" Mike spoke up through our bickering. Ry and I turned away from each other's gaze and had our eyes on the African-American boy. "We could watch _The Fault In Our Stars._"

"Mikey-Boy, you better think of a better movie than that romantic-ass _shit!" _Riley rebuffed before blowing out cigarette smoke. "We should watch something like _Outlast _or _The Hunger Games." _

"I say we watch _Outlast." _I immediately jump in, raising my hand for support. I've never seen the movie _Outlast, _Riley was obsessing over the video game and so was I on uncle Joel's PlayStation 4. I'm way too tired of _The Hunger Games, _unlike Ry, who watches part of it every day before walking to school with me.

Riley nods in agreement before turning to Mike. "Well?" She says expectantly.

Mike shrugs his shoulders. "I'm fine with whatever." He says before we walk on.

"Great," Riley snaps her fingers. "the _Outlast _movie doesn't start until nighttime, like at 7:00, so we should just hang and wait."

"What else is there to do? All we're doing is running around and watching people fight..." I mumble mostly to myself. I ignored the arguments between Riley and Mike and just pondered through my own thoughts, a habit I usually got into.

It's like we're a gang, Riley, Mike and I. Riley's the leader, I'm second in command and Mikey is the boyfriend of Ry and most likely the one who sticks around, like Cry in Two-Bit's dumbass posse.

I'm so _sick _of watching rumbles, I'd rather go home and sit my butt down on a bed and read a good book.

... I wonder who's calling my name?

"Ellie! Are you deaf?!" I heard a new, but familiar voice, a voice I heard only yesterday.

I know it's Clementine.

A spark lit up in my gut when I turned to face Clem's dimpled face. I have been hoping to see her again sometime.

"Hey, Clem," I say as a smile creeped up on my lips. "I've been wondering where you were."

"Just helping Nick with the gas station, you know, oil change, selling cigarettes, just people stuff." Clem's smile became bigger (as did mine) when she took a few steps closer to me. "What are you doing?"

Did she not notice Ry and Mike?

... Unless they ran off to go fuck each other...

"I'm just hanging out with Riley and her boyfriend. We're going to watch a movie pretty soon." I ran a hand through my scalp. My bangs fell to my eyes, but I didn't bother to sweep them back.

"That's cool," Clem looked around and whistled awkwardly before she asked, "When's the movie?"

"7:00," I answered with a small smile. "We're watching _Outlast."_

Clem's face immediately lit up, her teeth gleaming in the "somewhat" visible sun (did I mention that before?). A warm feeling gathered in my belly slowly and strongly as I matched her grin. Gosh, what the hell is wrong with me right now?

"That is so cool!" Clem exclaimed, snapping me to reality. "Duck and I were going to go see that movie with Duck's friends."

"Really? Wow," The feeling in my belly bubbled (in a good way) as I tried to think of another statement. Thank God Riley and Mike came just in time to save me.

"Yo, Els, let's go-" Riley stopped her blabbering when her dark eyes scanned Clementine; her smirk came back when she recognized her.

"Hey, speedy," Riley teased, slapping the other girl on the back. "Where did you come from?"

"The gas station over there," Clem pointed over to the huge sign that had a big "K" on it.

"Oh. Your brother work there now?" Riley continued, shoving her hands in her pockets.

"N-No." Clem mumbled. "Every Saturday he goes and helps Luke and Nick with business. I have to help sometimes too."

_Wait. Who the hell are Nick and Luke?_

Riley nodded with the understanding she always had and smiled. Even though Riley can act much like an ass sometimes, she never ceased to understand every person's struggle.

"That's good. Well, we gotta get going. See ya," Ry started to walk off with Mike, but when I wasn't trailing along, the two turned their heads to looks at me.

"You coming or not, Els?" Riley asked expectantly. I let air come out of my nose before I replied.

"Clem and Duck are going to see _Outlast _with some friends..." I trailed off. Was that seriously ALL I could muster?

"O... kay then?" Ry gave me the awkward eye. "What's so good about that?"

"Just wanted to let you know," I shrugged before following the two lovers to only God knows where. I looked back to Clementine and smiled as I waved goodbye, a wave that was returned with a warm smile.

* * *

><p>I don't know why, but so far the <em>Outlast <em>movie was shit. Because 1) crappy acting and 2) it wasn't scary at all. Now I'm kinda wishing I didn't even go to see the movie.

Mike decided not to come to the movie, so it was just Riley and I. I found out Clem didn't come either, just Duck, Nick and Luke.

"_There's no little pig here..." _Chris Walker ranted on. I barely paid attention to the movie as I munched on my popcorn. Even Ry was fiddling and swearing under her breath as the movie came and went.

Suddenly a young Hispanic girl came back with a huge bag of popcorn and sat in front of us. She had red glasses on and a sensitive-looking face.

"Hey, Ellie," Riley bumped my shoulder with her hand, causing me to look at her. Ry wiggled her eyebrows and nodded towards the Hispanic girl.

I suddenly got the hint and shook my head vigorously. "No, Riley..." I mumbled. "Not right now..."

Ry ignored my entreaty and leaned in to whisper flirtatiously in the girl's ear.

"You're a cute Mexican." Riley commented. Seriously, Ry? She's not Mexican! She's HISPANIC!

I saw the girl's face turn pale in fear and embarrassment after Riley said that. She turned around to face my idiotic friend with a harshly flushed face, and murmured, "Excuse me?"

"Are you even _from _Mexico?" Riley asked in a low, husky voice. Her face inches from the other girl's.

"N-no..." She stuttered, clearing her throat and using her hand as a fan as if it was hot in here. "I'm Hispanic-American."

Riley moaned quite inappropriately in delight, and gently took a handful of the girl's hair. "I really like me some Hispanic women," She mumbled. "This might just be my lucky night."

You could see the fire in her eyes. The stranger ripped her hand away from Riley's and stood up to walk off, until Ry did the same and grabbed her by the waist.

"L-let go of me, p-please..." The girl struggled under Riley's fake lusty stare, until finally, Riley let her go and made her land her rear on the old carpet.

"What's your problem?" Ry mumbled quite lovingly. "I just want some love."

"Well, I'm not interested," The girl spat irritatingly and huffed as she got up.

"Feisty, huh? Just the way I like it.." Ry started to grab the new girl but she was pretty quick, and dodged Riley's hand desperately grabbing hers.

"Get lost, pervert!" The girl hissed and spat directly on Riley's face before walking off, once again, Riley grabbed her.

"Just give me a chance," Riley practically begged, her face again inches from the other girl's.

"Stop it!" The girl wrangled her hand away from Ry's, until finally I stood up.

"Leave her alone, Riley." I say roughly. Riley stopped her little act and stared daggers into my own eyes.

"What did you say?" Riley half taunted. "You little shit, what did you say?"

"I said leave her alone," I refused to flinch away from Ry's gaze, even though I wanted to.

Riley looked at the girl, then me. She shook her head and turned to walk away, hands slammed into her jean pockets.

"Sorry," I apologized for Riley, sitting next to the new girl while doing so. "Her name's Riley. She was only messing around with you."

"Why though?" She asked, eyebrows furrowed in slight annoyance. "Why would she act like a love-crazed lesbian towards a _stranger?"_

"She does it for fun," I shrugged. "She wouldn't mess with you if she knew who you were." I stared dumbly at the movie, the horrible, horrible movie...

"Well, thanks for sticking up for me." The girl smiled a friendly smile. "My name is Sarah."

"Ellie." I reached and shook Sarah's hand.

After a short while of talking, I finally said, "Let's get out of here. The movie's boring."

Sarah nodded in agreement. We went outside in the freezing cold and just... talked. I learned a lot about Sarah. She was about Riley's age: 18, just a little older, maybe. She was a really nice girl, now I'm kind of glad I met her.

"So," Sarah broke the moment's silence we had. "Is Riley your friend or something?"

"More like my adopted sister," I say with a small smile. "My mom died a day after I was born. Riley's mother, Marlene, was my mom's best friend, and took me in as her own."

Sarah's eyes immediately showed concern. If I wasn't used to that type of reaction from people I would have been annoyed as hell. But I've had that reaction millions of times, so I'm... used to it.

"Do you ever think of your mom?" Sarah asks carefully (at least she cares about my feelings. Others would just be nosy about it). "I mean, do you ever think of what life would be like if she was still alive?"

I thought about that for a moment. I always thought of my mom. How life would've been like If she survived giving birth to me. I always thought if I looked anything like her, same eyes, same looks...

"Sometimes I have dreams," I suddenly say, I knew I caught Sarah off-guard, but I kept talking in a slow, careful manner. "Sometimes I can see someone's face, and hear someone's voice in my sleep. She would smile and tell me how precious I am..." I stared off into space, not sure of what else to say. Sarah stayed silent.

After a few moments of silence, I started talking again. "I have my mom's letter," I searched through my pockets and pull out an old, crumpled brown piece of paper. "I carry it with me everywhere I go. It's really special to me..."

"That's good," Sarah nodded. "My dad died when I was fifteen. Ever since then, I carry his shirt around once in awhile. Just to remind myself of him."

I just smiled and nodded. It seems we had some things in common.

* * *

><p>"This is my house," Sarah pointed out softly, she showed me a decent-looking house that had a small fountain out on the front porch, there was even good land. I haven't seen that good of a house since I was seven years old. Well, when Marlene, Riley and I travel to Texas to see uncle Joel every once in a while, we would run around in his lawn with Sarah, who's, like, sixteen. A sweetheart too.<p>

"It's beautiful," I complimented, sending the Hispanic girl a grin. Sarah grinned back and just stood there for a bit.

"Well?" I say expectantly. "Aren't you going to go in your house?" I exaggerated a gentlemental bow, which Sarah laughed at and blushed.

"I'm just thinking a little bit before I say goodbye to you..." Sarah trailed off, she blushed harder. "I always do that."

"That's alright," I chuckle at Sarah's cute embarrassment. "Do you want to go now?"

Sarah just smiled, the redness on her face fading away. "Yes." Was all she said.

"But before you go," I call out as the girl pranced to her yard. Sarah stopped and turned to face me. "I need to tell you something."

That was when Sarah turned full-front, her smile matching her gleaming eyes.

"Um..." I tapped my chin. "Again, I'm sorry about Riley. Sometimes she doesn't know what she's doing."

"Oh, that's long forgotten." Sarah waved it off with a bigger smile. "I forgive Riley."

"Thanks," I grinned.

"But..." Sarah's tone dropped more serious and shy. I raised my eyebrows and waited for the worse.

"I need to stay away from someone like Riley," She blushed crimson. "I... could fall in love with her. I just need to stay away from her..."

Well, Riley can sure get her good looks on both men and women... I put my hands in my pockets and replied, "Well, Ry has a boyfriend. So you don't need to worry about that."

Sarah's calm doe eyes soon transformed to anger and... jealousy? "My mother wouldn't want me to hang out with people like Riley or you. She thinks of you as trash heap," She turned away bitterly. "I just wish mom didn't expect so highly of me."

I just stood there, cocking my head to the side like I was a total idiot. When Sarah wasn't saying anything else, I turned around and started my way back home, when Sarah's voice caught me again.

"Ellie?" I turned around. "If at school, I don't say hi, please don't take it wrong. I just don't want to get in trouble by my mother."

I nodded. "Goodbye, Sarah." I said before taking off.

* * *

><p>"Do you even realize where you've been?" Marlene scolded as I brushed my teeth. "Where was your head?"<p>

"I don't have a watch, Marl." I reluctantly answer, swishing my teeth with mouthwash and spitting it out.

"I don't care, you should've been with Riley!" Marlene snapped.

"Ry _left _me," I argued. "Plus, I made a new friend, I was walking her home."

"You know how Riley gets, Ellie." Marl replied, her eyes boring into mine. "If she gets angry and leaves without telling you, you're supposed to-"

"But-"

"_Go home WITH HER."_ Marlene gave me even more of a stern look before moving on. "You know that, Ellie!"

"I know, Marlene, I wasn't thinking."

"That's always the excuse I get from you. _I wasn't thinking, my brain wasn't working. I don't think I have any brains. _Can't you make up your god-damned mind?!"

"I..." I wanted to yell at Marlene back, I really did. But before I could even say anything, Riley came walking in.

"Mom, don't get mad at Ellie. It was my fault-"

"Shut up! I am _sick _and _tired _of you sticking up for her. You always take the fucking blame! Just SHUT UP and GO AWAY."

Nobody talks to Ry like that. "Hey! Don't yell at her!"

Marlene reacted in such a way that I never thought she would. She turned around and _slapped me._ Across the face. She slapped me so hard that I came falling to the floor.

My left cheek throbbed. I felt like crying. Nobody in the family had ever hit me like that. I never thought Marlene would do that!

Both Riley and Marl had the shocked looks on their faces. Those two look so alike, the two of them.

"Woah. Els..." Riley extended her hand to me, but I swatted it away. Marlene didn't do anything. Didn't say anything, she only looked. And looked. And looked.

I felt nothing but confusion and rage bubble up within my soul. Why did Marlene hit me? Does she even love me any more?

I automatically jumped up and grabbed Riley's arm. Next thing I knew, we were out the door.

"Ellie! I didn't mean it!" Marlene's voice called from behind us. I didn't care. I just wanted to go away. Away from MARLENE...

"Ellie-" Ry struggled to keep up with me, as I was holding tight onto her arm. We weren't wearing jackets. Ry had her undershirt and pajama bottoms on, while I had a white long sleeve with some basketball shorts.

I couldn't hear anything. I just wanted to be away from the house.

"Ellie!" When Riley shouted I stopped dead in my tracks. I turned and looked at her. When I looked at her I just stared.

"Els?" She took my hand and rubbed it to try to comfort me. I slipped it away and instead looked at both of my hands and squeezed them into fists. I squinted my eyes shut to try to keep the threat of tears from coming.

It was no use. Those tears were stronger than my eyelids.

Not caring anymore, I just burst into tears, silent sobs soon followed.

"Shit. Ellie..." Riley took me into her oil-smelling arms and I accepted. This might sound weird to you, but... I kinda like the smell of oil on Ry. The smell of oil is the smell of friendship for Riley and I. Ry doesn't know, but it is to me.

I just sobbed and sniffled in my sister's arms. _I can't believe Marlene hit me... she doesn't love me any more..._

"Shh.. There, there, little 'sis..." Riley whispered gently in my ear, rubbing little circles around my back. "It's okay."

"How is Marlene hitting me _okay?" _I snap, pushing Riley away from me.

"Hey. You know she didn't mean it," Ry said sternly, but softened her voice shortly after. "Why are you even crying? It's not like she abused you."

"Because..." I sniffed, rubbing my reddened cheek. "It hurts..."

Ry nodded, her brown eyes soft. "Let's just go home, Els. I'm cold as hell."

I shook my head. "No. I..." I sighed. "I need to crash somewhere, I need to be away from Marlene for a little bit."

Riley nodded in understanding. She clicked her tongue as she took my hand and lead me through the neighborhood.

"Where are we going?" I ask, horribly curious.

"Mike's house." Ry replies. I sigh in relief.

* * *

><p>"Congratulations. You got hit by your guardian." Mike smirked teasingly as I punched his shoulder. Mike lives in a pretty good apartment, with a good job enough for him to pay his dept. He moved out of his parent's house not too long ago.<p>

"We just need a place to stay for a couple of days," Riley pecked her boyfriend on the cheek before plopping on his couch.

"Sure thing," Mike smiled a warm smile. "Just go to bed, 'cause I am _tired."_

I said nothing as I went to sleep on Mike's hide-a-bed with Riley.

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><p><strong>OH YEA! CHAPTER THREE'S OUT YO! Hope you enjoyed the chapter. I enjoyed writing it! Hi- Again won't be coming back for quite a while it's looking like. I focused most of my attention on this fic, 'cause it's SOOO awesome so far.<strong>

**Thanks for the reviews, dudes and dudettes! I really appreciate it!**

**Until then, enjoy, review when you can and stay awesome dudes and dudettes! Amo ragazzi.**


	4. Chapter Four

I slipped on my football gear and headed out to the huge field of Lincoln High School, it's also a stadium for our games, but we call it a field most of the time.

"Speedy! What a pleasure it is to see you!" I turned around and saw Riley in her own football uniform, a goofy grin on her face.

"Hey, Riley," I say casually. I wasn't really in the mood for jokes, it was Monday after all.

"What's with the gloom, Speedy?" Riley slapped me hard on my back. "School's out for the day, a football game's next month, what's more you need?"

"Going home," I answer dully, tapping my knuckles on the top of my helmet. "I'm not really in the mood, Riley..."

"Sure you are," Riley pushed me lightly. I was about to retort and tell her how much of an ass she's being, until we heard the whistle blow in the distance.

Riley glanced at the whistler, then back at me. She grinned again. "Time to show your talent, Speedy." Riley jogged to our coach, I followed.

* * *

><p>"We're all lucky the game isn't until next month, so we all better train hard." Our coach, Winston, inspired us with some words that all coaches tell hisher team. Nobody was listening really, neither was I. We knew what to do anyways, I mean, we are one of the most undefeated high school football teams.

We all nodded absentmindly, then Winston looked over to Riley and scolded her to stop messing around. Riley nodded and said, "Yes sir" before we went out to the field for a practice game.

I licked my lips for anticipation, the scrawny boy yelling "RED, 2, 3!" was starting to get really annoying.

Finally, the boy shouted, "HIKE!" and tossed the spiral ball to a well-muscled jock (I think his name was Thomas).

Thomas backed up a little, nevertheless throwing the ball with that unleashed strength he had. Immediately, I sprinted for the spinning item in the air, the world seemed like a blur, the cold air whipped at my face.

Then, as if in slow motion, I jumped for it, the ball landing on my chest as I landed my feet on the ground. The sudden adrenaline dazed me as I ran faster than Sonic the Hedgehog, I heard the encouraging yells of Winston and some from good friends.

Some of the away side of our team tried to do a flying tackle, their fingers even brushed at my collar in a vain attempt to pull me down.

In a strangled breath, I made the touchdown, slamming the ball down on the ground before bending down to take deep breaths.

I heard Winston cackle and I felt a rough slap on the back that sent me face-first on the ground.

"Clementine Rose Dallas strikes yet again!" Winston laughs, apologizing for making me eat crap quickly after and helping me up. I gave him a strained smile and sighed as Winston called another round.

Three-fricking-hours came and went during practice. Sweat was pouring out of my face, my uniform sticking to my skin by the end. I'm not kidding you, when everyone, including me, took off our helmets, steam came off our heads, as if our hair was being relieved of darkness.

As I packed my bag, I heard someone call my name. It was Riley.

"Yo, Speedy!" Riley caught up to me. "You did good out there, girl! How the hell do you get that skill?"

"What skill?" I shrugged. I'm not that excited when it comes to me, okay, maybe a little bit, but I'm not one to complain, or brag.

"The way you run! Why yo-you, run through the field like a demon on fire!" Riley laughed, making movements to prove her point; I had to chuckle at that too.

"They don't call me the Speed Demon for nothin'." I chuckled.

"Speedy for me," Riley laughed, messing with her sweat greased bun.

Before I could say anything else, I see Kenny's pick-up pull over in the sidewalk. I glance at Duck's waving before I say farewell to Riley.

"Make sure to stop by sometime, Speedy," Riley gave me a piece of paper, one I didn't have time to open, for Duck was honking the horn. I called farewell again to Riley before running and jumping in the pick-up.

"Hey, Duck," I sighed as Duck drove off.

"Hey." Duck said casually. About three seconds later, Duck jumped into a conversation.

"What did that girl give you?" He asked.

"Her name's Riley, and I dunno," I reply, uncrumpling the paper and revealing it as an address.

"Why an address, though?" Duck asked again, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Again, _I don't know." _I emphasized.

Duck grinned goofily and slapped a hand on my back. "You sweat worse than me."

I shake my head, failing to hide my smile. Duck is able to make anything seem like a huge joke, especially on life. Some people always think that Duck gets drunk sometimes, though he's never drunk, even when he drinks a beer with his father or does drinking games with his friends. He just gets drunk on life, because God has so much to give him, according to Duck.

* * *

><p>I was exhausted after school, but I still walked to where Riley's address took me. <em>Mulberry Lane, <em>it's called. I dragged my feet with each step, each step seeming like I was dying of exhaustion.

I still walked on, even when my muscles were screaming at me to rest.

One more block.

You can do it, Clem.

CLEMENTINE!

I unconsciously fell on my face to the cement. My legs gave out on me. Why did I even bother...

_You'll get to see Ellie! _My head told me. I looked around to make sure it wasn't just my head. I got up off the ground, wincing at the pain I now had in my head and ribs, made sure there wasn't any blood shed as I fell, and I walked on.

The next sign read: _Mulberry Lane. _I knew I could do it!

I ran along the sidewalk of the quiet neighborhood as I looked at the small paper Riley gave me, and ran to the number 136 apartment.

I knocked. There was a little scuffling and some curse words before the door opened to reveal Ellie. Her green eyes lit up at the sight of me, my heart fluttered at the sight of her. I smiled back, though, don't get me wrong.

"Hey, Clem!" Ellie pulled me in the apartment and hugged me, which only made my heart soar as I hugged back.

I can't believe I'm feeling this way for someone, let alone a girl...

"Riley, Clem's here!" Ellie called as she stepped over the mess that was made in the living room.

"Sorry for the mess," Ellie said. "Mike isn't one to be organized."

I nodded and smiled, then my eyes led me to the pit of her chest. The reddish haired brunette was wearing a tank top with some pajama bottoms, along with no bra. My cheeks flared as I kept staring, my throat suddenly dry.

_Clementine, your eyes should be on Ellie's own eyes, not her... boobs. They look so- No! Off the breasts! _I lifted my eyes off Ellie's chest and I saw tease in the older girl's eyes.

Ellie opened her mouth to say something, but was cut short when the loud thumping of stairs came to play. Both Riley and Riley's boyfriend, Mike, came downstairs with goofy teenage smiles on their faces.

"Guys, will you stop making out every second of the day?" Ellie snapped, obviously annoyed by the two.

"No." Was Riley's response, she took Mike's hand and led him to the couch to watch T.V.

"Sorry," Ellie mumbled. "They're really 'serious' about each other..."

"Oh, hell no!" We both whipped our heads to see Mike kneeling next to a big cup of spilt liquid.

Mike looked up at Ellie and narrowed his eyes. "Did you break my lava lamp?" He asked, his voice sounding the most irritated.

So _that's _why there was a bunch of scuffling.

Ellie darted her eyes back and forth, a few seconds later answered in a quiet voice: "Sorry..."

Mike shook his head, replied in a calm manner, "I'll go get the broom..." Then he walked off.

Right when Mike left the room, I turned to Riley and narrowed my eyes.

Alright, Abel. What's the catch?" I half-joked, I struggled to keep my straight face.

Riley rolled her eyes, and stood up from the couch. "Calm down, Speedy. There's no catch," She said. "But I would like to say, that we ran away from my mom."

I furrowed my eyebrows together. Ellie and Riley? Running away from Marlene?

"Why?" Was the first thing I thought of and asked. Riley just shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.

"She was being a bitch," She mumbled. "She hit Ellie. So we're just crashing at Mikey Boy's for a few." She plopped on the couch, followed by Ellie. I followed the two and stood in front of them, still confused. So that's why when I knocked at their door, it was Marlene who answered and told me they weren't here?

"Why would Marlene 'hit Ellie'?" I nosed in, exaggerating quotation marks.

"Because she's on her period or something? I dunno!" Riley waved off. "All I know was that Els came home late at like, 12:00, and Marlene had a mother-fucking cow. That make you happy?" Riley took out a pack of cigarettes out of her pocket, took the nearest lighter and lit. The living room immediately smelled of cigarette smoke. I dared myself not to cough.

It was a moment later of Riley ranting distractedly that I noticed Ellie staring at me, green eyes sparkling. I turned to gaze back at her, but the half-redheaded brunette looked away, a blush slowly forming on her cheeks. I just raised an eyebrow before sitting between her and Riley.

By the time Riley turned on the T.V., Mike came back with a black, twig-looking broom, and swore under his breath as he started sweeping the glass.

"Hey," I heard Ellie say softly, I turned my head to see her with her eyes downcast, her cheeks the color of crimson. She looked accidentally cute that way...

"What's wrong?" I reply, shifting closer to her. Ellie looked up and met my gaze for a moment, then shook her head with a half-smile, blush still intact.

"Oh, nothing," She said. "I'm just thinking of something."

"Oh. Okay," I nodded and leaned back on Mike's couch, getting into that stupid Family Guy episode. As I watched, a thought came into my head. I again turned back to Ellie and quietly asked her the thought.

"Don't you miss Marlene? You've been away from her for quite a few days."

Ellie looked up at me briefly, then looked down.

"..." She just huffed, her eyebrows were furrowed together. "M... Maybe..." Ellie almost looked like she was about to cry, was she going to cry?

Sighing, Ellie then sat back. "I guess so. I mean, I know she didn't mean to hurt me like that. It's just that, Marlene has never reacted like that to me, or Riley for that matter. She was always level-headed. Ry and I should go back home and apologize." She ran her fingers through her hair and huffed. "I acted like such a spoiled brat that last few nights ago. I'm the one who should go apologize."

"Did Marlene check up on you at all?" I asked again. I can't believe I'm asking so many questions...

"No..." Ellie's eyes went downcast at that. "But that's Marlene. She doesn't do that checking up stuff. Our bedtime is just strictly 8:30, disobey that and you're in Hell for a week. If only I just called her.." Ellie's hands tightened into fists. It looked like she was going to burst at any moment, but she didn't. She just let a few tears roll from her eyes, then wiped them away.

I nodded with understanding. I always considered myself as a person that understands everybody, even Kenny says that I seem to have understanding and faith in others.

"Well, I gotta go," I announced as I stood up from my seat. "Kenny'll be pissed at me if I don't get home on time."

"Alright, thanks for stopping by, Speedy." Riley said with a smile.

"And breaking my lava lamp..." Mike grumbled. Riley just rolled her eyes at that.

Ellie gave me a shy wave of goodbye, as did I, then I was out the door.

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><p><strong>I'm kinda displeased with this chapter (I sowwy if I disappointed you guys!). Next chapter SHOULD be better, so look forward to that. I know I'll look forward to an interesting chapter for Outcast! :).<strong>

**Last chapter I forgot to list the ages of the new characters that appear in the story, so here we go:**

**Sarah- _18_**

**Mike-_ 18_**

**Winston_- 55_**

**I'm not even going to include that Thomas dude, he's just a background character, not a major or supporting character. You can always think about him whenever you're doing something or dying of boredom...**

**Anyways, review if you enjoyed this chapter, and as always, enjoy, keep smiling, and STAY AWESOME DUDES AND DUDETTES! Love you guys ^.^.**


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